Thanks for the explanation.
It feels like there’s still a lot of gaps in the information out there. I see where I am now, and I have a good idea of where I want to be, but I don’t know enough to really connect A to B. A lot of the beginner programs are great, well laid out, and serve to get you from nothing to a certain basic level of strength and size. It’s the “what then?” that I’m iffy on.
And I know I’m not at that point yet, but I think an attempt to piece together a rough long-term plan for myself is acceptable. For me it really is more about vanity than anything… but it took me awhile to realize that. It’s not even about the women; I’m pretty happy with my hot, Asian, pediatrician girlfriend. I’m just tired of being so skinny/lanky/scrawny, and something about that mid-century bodybuilding look screams health, vitality, manliness, respect. It’s just a look, but there’s something about it that I want for myself.
I honestly don’t really have any need for the strength. I know that almost sounds sacrilegious.
With respect to injuries, one of the things I picked up in my research is that a lot of injuries occur from neglecting certain things early on: bad stretching techniques, bad movement choices, even simply not training stabilizers well enough. I want to avoid making as many of those mistakes as possible. Thanks for the pointer regarding your experience with trap development and chest/shoulder injuries. I’ll see if I run into the same thing myself.
It’s the same mistake-aversion as for why I started that “Classic Physique Training” thread… if you’re training for that look, are there certain things to beware of, even as a beginner? I just didn’t know, and there were a few warnings against over developing obliques and traps that I’d read.
In terms of eating, it’s something I’ve struggled with until I started adding serious amounts of milk to my diet. I work a desk job, and I’m relatively sedentary at home, but I lose weight on a 2500 calorie diet. I know the brain uses a lot of energy (I write software), but the math still doesn’t seem to add up.
“Squats and milk”, with its rapid mass gaining promise seemed like a good place to start over, after I stalled out on Starting Strength after 6 weeks due to an unrelated injury last Fall. I used to run (competitively), so hard training isn’t foreign to me, I’m just new-ish to weight training.
I’m still not sure if my calories are quite enough, but since I’ve started, it has been over 2lbs bodyweight gain per week, and from what I understand, that’s pretty reasonable. CT’s article against “dirty bulking” has me thinking that maybe I shouldn’t push the calories any more than what I’m already doing, as long as the protein intake is adequate.
He’s a good athlete, has run at least a dozen marathons, including Boston, so he’s fairly competitive.